This Week in Lost - 2/2/10

This Week in Lost is back! Sure, we may have thought FlashForward was going to be the new Lost, but to say the least, that show hasn't lived up to its promise. Feels pretty damn good to have the original back! Let's do this!

Season 6 Premiere: Episodes 1/2 "LA X"

Zach Says: The first major question that the season will continue to answer probably, is whether or not the bomb worked, and if so, how? The season premiere showed us two planes of existence; one in which the Oceanic Six and others from the 1970's get transported back to the present, and another in which the Oceanic Flight 815 never crashed on the island. It is clear that the first was effected by the bomb, however, the second may have nothing to do with it. With the latter, the island is underwater, so probably won't play too much of a role in that universe, but what is the importance of it then? One interesting thing is that Jack saw Desmond on the plane, and thought he recognized him. Does Jack remember the island? Has it even happened? One other weird thing is that Desmond should have been on the island anyways, so maybe the hydrogen bomb event DID happen and sunk the island, stopping future events from happening. And where the heck is Boone's sister, Shannon? I'm assuming though, that this alternate universe will play a major role in the season and be used to do more than just explore the characters.

More interesting things are going on on the island though. Everyone from the 70's is now back at the Swan station, but now, in the present, 200x, with everyone else, including Lapidus, Sun, and Ben. Near the beginning, the show confirms a lot of our suspicions that we've had all during the fifth season: the John Locke looking fellow that's been walking around is NOT the real John Locke, but Jacob's unnamed nemesis, who does happen to also take the form of the smoke monster. He did get Ben to kill Jacob, although Hurley can still see him, and even gives him some instructions, so Jacob and his plans are certainly not done. Jacob's enemy isn't either though, as he wants to "go home", which seems to be off the island someplace.

Hurley, Jack, Kate, and others from the 70's realize they are in the present and attempt to save Sayid's life by following Jacob's instructions. They go towards the temple and run into yet ANOTHER set of Others, previously not seen in the series. They take Sayid to a spring, which heals wounds, and I would think lets people not age, which would explain Richard Alpert's immortality. Sayid is supposedly a very important person, so we'll see how that plays out.

That's just about all of the really important stuff that happens in this opener. It seems the main arc will be that of Jacob's nemesis trying to get off and perhaps destroy the island and its inhabitants, and everyone else trying to stop him. There will be some conflict with Sawyer and how he copes with Juliet's death, as well as other scenarios that play out, but the one that fascinates me the most is that of the alternate dimension where the plane never crashed and what importance that will bring to the show.

There are lots of things learned from the first episode and interesting things one can notice, especially with the alternate reality and the incongruities with what happened in the first season. I'm very interested to see how it all plays out and can't wait for the finale. The season definitely started right.
Zach's Score: 9/10

JDW Says: I was going to make a big explanation about what happened in last night's two-hour premiere, but I think Zach already covered, well, everything. For me, the first half (essentailly Episode 1) was the best, and not just the best of this premiere, but certainly one of the major highlights of this show's entire run. There was just something about watching it, and realizing, "Wow, this is the last season premiere of Lost," and then seeing so many familiar faces, many of which haven't been seen since the first season, like Boone and Leslie Arzt (Remember him? He blew up all over everyone).

But what also made this premiere so great was that for the first time in a long time, the show answered some major questions, even while bringing up so new ones. Finally, we are given a true identity to the infamous "smoke monster," even though we still don't have a name for him yet, it really brings together all the interactions with him over the previous five seasons to something a bit more comprehensive.

But, as Zach said, the real question now is what do we make of these two realities? The one, assumingly real one, in which the bomb detonated but now everyone isn't sure what's going on and the new, hypothetical one, where it's as if the plane never crashed and the island is submerged in the ocean. But what doesn't make sense of this reality is that (at least I noticed this, and Jack seemed curious as well) why isn't Jack's hair short like it was when the series started? Why is Boone not with his sister, Shannon? Why does Hurley claim to only have good luck? And what the hell is Desmond doing on the plane?! I guess that's why we're supposed to keep watching, there's definitely some motivation now at least.
JDW's Score: 9.2/10

Overall Score: 9.1/10

Missed the episode? Watch it on Hulu